Attorney General Laxalt and 12 States Challenge California’s Extraterritorial Farming Regulations in the Supreme Court

December 4, 2017

Carson City, NV – Today, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced that the State of Nevada, along with 12 other states, is suing the State of California in the U.S. Supreme Court because of its attempt to impose unreasonable agricultural regulations on other states, including Nevada.

The multistate coalition is challenging a California law requiring egg producers for all eggs sold in California, even if their production facilities are located outside of California, to comply with California’s idiosyncratic farming regulations. The suit argues that California’s unique regulations violate a federal law prohibiting states from imposing their own standards on eggs produced in other states, as well as the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits states from enacting regulations that unreasonably interfere with commerce among and between states. The filing explains the economic impact of these burdensome regulations.

"This is yet another example of California's unreasonable and over burdensome regulations affecting everyday Nevadans,” said Laxalt. “By forcing out-of-state egg producers to modify their production facilities to comply with one state’s eccentric preferences, California has inflated egg prices for every consumer in the nation, including in Nevada. We are asking the Supreme Court to limit California’s ability to set unreasonable and unique agricultural standards that affect other states like Nevada, while doing little to help further any tangible concerns in California.”

Nevada is joined by the following states in this challenge: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.